Among
the Russian tourists scrambling to leave Tunisia on Jan.16 were many senior
citizens, looking annoyed because the government coup had disrupted their vacation.
More and more Russian pensioners are taking advantage of the opportunity to go
abroad for the winter—or longer.

Russian
retirees only started going south for the winter around 2000. It turned
out to be not only pleasant, but also cheap. A three-month sojourn in Tunisia
costs pensioners 65,000 rubles ($2,200). “A holiday for elderly people costs
about 700 rubles ($23.50) a day, compared to 1,200 rubles ($40) at some seedy
holiday club outside Moscow,” said Alexander Orlovsky, whose travel company has
been offering older people winter trips to Tunisia for the past two years. “And
it is a different kind of life to boot.” In Tunisia, pensioners see the sites,
breathe the sea air and improve their health, while at home they would be
sitting in their apartments, venturing out onto the slippery streets only when
they needed to buy a loaf of bread. Last winter, Orlovsky’s firm sent more than
500 people between the ages of 60 and 85 to Tunisia.

Those
who are taking advantage of the chance to winter abroad come from all walks of
life and have different levels of income, but they all share a desire to
indulge themselves in their old age. The list of popular places to go includes Turkey,
Montenegro, Bulgaria, Spain, Greece, France, Italy and Cyprus as well as
Tunisia. Travel agencies are able to offer elderly people low prices in decent
hotels abroad because they work with a special program for older people. Everyone wins: The program guarantees hotels clients in the off-season while travel agencies expand their
clientele and pensioners relax and improve their health in comfort.

Orlovsky
admits that he has borrowed the idea of “snowbirding” from his Western
colleagues. Tunisian hotels have long been offering special rates to leading
European tour operators. It took a while for Russian pensioners to warm up to
the idea, because of financial constraints. However, changes in the Russian
real estate market made it possible for older people to take advantage of these
travel opportunities.

Larissa
Petrova, a 57-year old Muscovite, headed for Goa as soon as she retired. “I had
always dreamed of going there, but a teacher’s salary is too small to pay for
travel, and then I had to help my daughter through university,” Petrova said.
“Now I have rented out my flat and, over the last two years, I have spent
periods in Goa, Turkey and Montenegro. I am a teacher of English, so I never have
problems with language, and renting a house abroad is easy.” Petrova plans to
go on a long tour of Europe, to live in France, Spain and Italy, before
returning to Moscow to care for her grandchildren.

Petrova
is a typical representative of the new generation of pensioners, those who have
worked a large part of their career in the post-Soviet era. They are better off
financially, have experience traveling abroad and differ strikingly from the
old women who used to sit on benches near the entrances to apartment blocks. The
new pensioners are computer-savvy, bank online and can run their affairs remotely.

“A
middle class has grown up in Russia,” said Nikita Mkrtchian, a senior research
fellow at the Analysis and Forecasting Laboratory at the Economic Forecasting
Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. “These people have savings earned
in the post-Soviet period and property that can bring an income.”

The
most remarkable thing is that life in some other countries is cheaper. “Russia
is becoming an expensive country,” Mkrtchian said. “In the 1990s, pensioners
did not go abroad because the prices of holidays and housing were higher there
than here. Now the situation has reversed. Living and vacationing abroad is
cheaper.” Besides, wherever a pensioner lives, he or she is entitled to his
legitimate pension, which can be transferred abroad in foreign currency at
the Central Bank exchange rate.

Some
countries, including Bulgaria, Portugal and Uruguay, also have special programs
for foreign retirees so they can live comfortably even if they have no
relatives locally. The pension plans in various countries offer low hotel
prices, discounts for renting apartments in the off-season, quality healthcare
and simplified steps to obtain a residence permit. The Turista Pensionado program in
Panama offers a 20-year property tax exemption; a 5 percent discount for air
tickets, hotel and holiday resort services, popular restaurants, cinemas,
theatres and sporting events;and a 25 percent discount on utilities.
Healthcare is 20 percent cheaper for seniors than for other population groups.

Many
pensioners find it easier to go abroad for several months now than when they
were young. They do not need to be proficient in a foreign language because
they do not intend to work abroad, and their children are grown so there is
nothing to keep them at home. So why not travel? “Young people may think twice
about living at a holiday resort because they have no place to work,” said Oleg
Repchenko, head of the Property Market Indicators analytical center. “Elderly
people have no such problem.”

Finding a new home

After
spending a couple of winters abroad, some pensioners decide to make a permanent
move, and this decision has turned out for many to be fairly easy. Yelena
Degteva, a pensioner from Kaluga, has been living in the Turkish town of
Mahmutlar close to the popular Antalya holiday resort for six months. She does
not worry about her pension back in Russia, which is accumulating in her
account. At 63, Yelena became a downshifter: Abroad she lives on the $600 a
month she gets from renting out her flat in Kaluga. “Six months ago, I sold my
country house and bought a flat in Marmutlar,” said Degteva. “All my neighbours
are Turkish, so I am gradually learning their language. I can already get by in
everyday life.” Degteva is not going to emigrate, but she is also not planning
to return to Russia any time soon. She has a guest visa, which costs her $400 a
year. “Living here has given me a new zest for life,” she said. “Besides, in
Turkey I can live on $600 and have everything I need; in Russia you cannot live
normally on that amount.” If you throw in the sea, the mild climate, and
excellent food, the pensioner’s choice makes sense.

“Elderly
people began travelling abroad in large numbers in 2002—2003,” said Repchenko. “There are no accurate statistics, but I can
safely say that, in 10 years, the flow of pensioners to the West has increased
several-fold. Most of them sell property in Russia and buy property abroad. “If
you sell a small flat in a Khrushchev-era walk-up, you can buy a good house
with a plot of land in Bulgaria, because property prices in East European
countries are a third those in Moscow.”

Many
young Russians are already thinking about spending their retirement in warm countries.
Alexander, who owns a small remodeling company in Moscow, bought a house on a
beach in Bulgaria. He started giving serious thought to his retirement at 35.
“My family and I spend our holidays in Bulgaria in the summer, and when my son
grows up, my wife and I will leave our Moscow apartment to him and move to the
seaside,” Alexander said. “Property abroad is the best investment for old age;
I have never counted on the government pension.”

Experts
do not, however, advise people who have never lived abroad for any length of
time to break their ties with Russia. “You should think twice,” said
psychologist Pavel Ponomaryov. “After all, life abroad is different from in
Russia and not everyone settles in easily, especially retired people who are set
in their views and ways. An elderly person will feel lonely in another
country.”